"Woman, Why Are You Weeping?"

Worship service link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVYenL2trt0

“Woman, Why Are You Weeping?”

John 20:11-18

Easter, April 17, 2022

Read John 20:1-18

This is the Word of the LORD.

 

Why do we celebrate the resurrection?

Does it really matter if Jesus was raised from the dead?  Yes, it matters.  It absolutely matters.  What we celebrate today is the difference between hope and despair.  It is the difference between life and futility.

It was this event – what God did, in time, with a very real Jesus, who had really died – this event frames everything else.  Either Christ was raised from the dead, victorious over the grave, or we are hopelessly deluded.

Don’t kid yourselves: the resurrection was not something that even the eyewitnesses accepted easily.  Even though Jesus had predicted it, even though Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, even though they had seen him do undo-able things: resurrection was not something they understood immediately.

Look at the text.

Watch Mary.  She went to the tomb in grief.  She saw the stone had been moved – but by whom?  The guards were not guarding, the scene was not at all like it was supposed to be.  Can you imagine?  Heartbroken already; now, someone had messed up everything she expected to find.  Can you feel how frustrated and exasperated she must have been as she ran back to the disciples to report, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they had laid him.”  In other words, perhaps the Romans were not done humiliating Jesus – even after death.

Consider Peter and John.  They took off running.  It did not make sense.  Yes, the Romans were cruel, but there was an edict from Caesar against robbing tombs.   They believed Mary that something had happened; they had to see for themselves.  If it was the Romans, there would be little the disciples were going to be able to do about it.  At the least, they could check out the scene to see if there were any clues as to where they might have taken Jesus.

John wrote that the two disciples were running together; however, he noted that he outran Peter to the tomb.  John failed to tell us how he did running against Mary – yet, John knew she was standing at the tomb weeping after they boys returned home.  She may have been first because she knew where the tomb was, and the disciples had not previously been there.  We do not know.  But then John wrote that Peter blasted past him into the tomb, perhaps giving us a vivid picture of Peter’s personality.

We see the guys acting like guys – all action and busy-ness.  But turn your attention back to Mary.  After they left to do something, she remained at the tomb.  She was still crushed.  She was still in despair.  She was still grieving.  She was openly weeping.  As she wept, she bent over to look again into the tomb.  When she did, she saw two angels.

After the trauma of the previous week, after being emotionally wrung out and feeling like she had been run over by the whole world, to see two angels sitting in the tomb must have felt like a hallucination.

“Why are you weeping?” they asked.  She repeated her story, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”  Remember: we know the story, she did not.  The stone was removed.  Jesus was not there.  The only reasonable inference she could draw from those two things was that “they” – “they” who? someone, anyone, whoever, someone not her and not the disciples – “they” had removed Jesus’ body from the tomb.

Would you have thought differently?  Even today, even knowing the story, would you have had a different response than Mary?  Presented with those two pieces of evidence: the stone rolled away and the tomb being empty; if someone you knew had died and been put in that tomb a couple of days before and with the tomb being guarded by soldiers, what would you think happened?  Dead people do not get up; then or now.  Dead people do not move themselves; then or now.  Dead people stay where people put them; and if they do not, it is because someone else has moved them, then or now, right?  She was weeping because - she was just like us.  Someone did something that was messing up even Jesus’ death – she could not even grieve properly.  Would the disaster never end?

Then, someone else asked her the same question, “Why are you weeping?  Whom are you looking for?”  Through her tears, through her despair, through her grieving, through her exasperation, and thinking that she must be addressing the gardener who might actually know what had happened, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”  Oh, can’t you just hear her heart breaking all over again?

Now turn your eyes to Jesus.  Can you see the compassion in his eyes?  Can you picture both his heart breaking for the pain Mary Magdalene was experiencing, while at the same time bursting with joy and anticipation at seeing her reaction when she finally recognized him?

“Mary,” he said.  Just calling her name changed the scene.  Slowly and suddenly (if that is possible), she realized who was speaking and her heart leapt for joy.  She was the first to experience the fulfillment of the promise Jesus gave to the disciples just a few nights before, “In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.” John 14:19.  And he explained when they asked him about it, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”

As she saw Jesus clearly, she knew fully. She knew, but what did she know?

1. She knew Jesus’ resurrection meant Jesus is who he said; it means what he said about himself is true.

The resurrection was (and is) the ultimate sign of power.  It means that even death could not hold Jesus.  This is such a simple truth, but yet it is so difficult to understand.  It is easy get the idea; it is difficult to embrace the meaning.  The resurrection was a sign – no, more than a sign – it was a manifestation of sovereignty and divinity.  Only God has the power of life and over death.  Jesus had told the disciples that he would be raised from the dead and it came true.  So, if the most impossible thing came true, we can have confidence that the other things he said also are true.

Ask yourself today, do you believe what Jesus said about himself?  Not just intellectually, but are you willing to stake your future upon the truth of what Jesus said about himself?  Are you willing to trust Jesus with your past – the things you wish you had done, the things you wish you had not done?  If you have not already received him as Lord and Savior, I invite you to listen and hear Jesus in his own words:

Because he was raised from the dead, we can believe the words he said during his travels.  He said:

• To the woman at the well, to whom he promised living water, which will satisfy the drinker’s thirst forever.  The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah coming”, and Jesus said, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.” (John 4:25-26). Jesus the Savior.

• To the Jews upset when he told the man to “Stand up, take your mat, and walk,” he said, “Indeed, Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes.  The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (John 5:21-22, 24) Jesus is the Lord.

Because he was raised from the dead, we can believe the words he said during his ministry:

• Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35.  Jesus is sufficient for us.

• Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” John 8:12.  Jesus is our hope.

• So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. …I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. John 10:7, 9.  Jesus is the judge.

• “I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. …I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. John 10:11, 14-15.  Jesus is our redeemer.

• Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.  Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” John 11:25-26.  Jesus is our resurrection.

Because he was raised from the dead, we can believe the words he said during his last night with the disciples,

• Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.  Jesus is our way.

• “I am the vine, you are the branches.  Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5.  Jesus is our life.

1. It means we have life and hope, now

Jesus’ resurrection means we have life, now.  This morning, we are celebrating three new covenant partners.  They publicly proclaimed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  In their baptisms, they – as we -- were joined with Christ in his death so that they also may be united with him in his resurrection.  We have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in the newness of life.

They know – as we know – that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.  The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.  We also must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:5-11)

The resurrection is new life, now. It is hope assured, now.

When we talk about opening the gospel to Carson City and beyond, it means that we are living into and proclaiming this truth here and now.  For those of you in the Pastor’s Bible Study, you know that Peter summed up the message this way, “By God’s great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.”  It was God’s mercy that Christ died for us and for our sins; it was God’s mercy that Jesus rose again from the dead victorious over the grave.  God did that in history so that we would have eternal life.

Peter even went on to describe a bit of the wonder of eternal life: “he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for you,” how about that? “you who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Friends, eternity includes now.  We are being protected by the power of God, now; our salvation is assured and ready to be revealed by the power of God.  What God did in raising Jesus from the dead means we have life now.  Every bit of that is good news for you and for me.  Every bit of that is good news for those who will have ears to hear and hearts ready to receive him.

To that end: if you have not yet received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, if you have not received his grace through faith; I implore you to do so today.  “Now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!”  If God is moving in your heart today, convicting you and drawing you to himself, I invite you to come see me at the end of the service so that we can pray together and share the joy of your new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

1. It means we have life and hope, now; even in the midst of a broken world.

All of that is true and all of that is replete with joy when we look with eyes of faith.  As we turn our attention to the world in which we live – now – we also are aware that all is not right – now.  The Bible does not say that the resurrection was a magic wand that took away all the evil and brokenness that exists in this life.  It is not a Pollyanna wish that denies or ignores the hardship of life.  Remember: Jesus went through his Passion – his betrayal, abandonment, torture, and crucifixion – he went through that for us. As the writer of Hebrews exhorted,

"...let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God."

As Jesus leads, as Jesus led, so we are called to follow. Make no mistake: the eyewitnesses to the resurrection did not have all the world’s problems magically disappear.  Even so, through all the world’s problems, the good news is worth it.

Mary remained a woman – a woman whose testimony was not recognized as being legally credible.  She remained subject to all the cultural expectations and prejudices that women experienced.  Yet her witness remained true.  The good news is worth it.

The disciples were persecuted, driven out of Jerusalem and driven out of the synagogues, and they were killed for proclaiming the gospel.  Yet their witness remained true.  The good news is worth it.

Our witness to the resurrection today does not magically solve all the world’s problems. Christians in Ukraine are dying from bullets and bombs.  Christians in China are suffering and dying under authoritarian rule.  In our own context here, Christians from Thailand are here in the United States suffering from COVID.  We have covenant partners who are experiencing health crises and financial crises and family crises and on and on… Yet our witness remains true.  The good news is worth it.

The old hymn “The Church’s One Foundation” has two verses that sum this up well:

Tho' with a scornful wonder
the world sees her oppressed,
by schisms rent asunder,
by heresies distressed,
yet saints their watch are keeping;
their cry goes up, "How long?"
and soon the night of weeping
shall be the morn of song.

'Mid toil and tribulation
and tumult of her war
she waits the consummation
of peace forevermore
till with the vision glorious
her longing eyes are blest,
and the great Church victorious
shall be the Church at rest.

Friends, if all we see are the world’s circumstances and the futility of humankind to save themselves, we have only despair.  If all we see are the consequences of evil and the blindness of humanity to greed, pride, narcissism, and self-centeredness, we have no hope.  If we put our trust in money, power, fame, military might, or any other idol – if we put our trust in anything other than God – we are lost.  On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.

1. Conclusion

As we conclude this morning, we find ourselves back on that resurrection morning; asking the ironic question, “Woman, why are you weeping?  Whom are you looking for?”  Sir, we want to see Jesus.  We want to know Jesus.  We want to be with Jesus.

He is here.  He is with us until the very end of the age.  He is alive.

So, if there are tears this morning – like Mary – they are tears that change from despair to uninhibited joy.  Today is a day for celebration.  “Death has been swallowed up in victory.  Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?” Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”

I invite you to join with me in the confession of the early church, the shouts that began service this morning:

Christ is risen!  HE IS RISEN INDEED!

Christ is risen! HE IS RISEN, INDEED!

Christ is risen! HE IS RISEN, INDEED!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen and amen.

That is our testimony, that is our hope, that is our gospel to proclaim. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Questions:

1. What encourages you to talk with people about the resurrection? What hinders you from talking with people about the resurrection?
2. What do you see when you look and examine the truth of what God has done in raising Christ from the dead?
3. What do you see when you look and examine the ways God has touched, transformed, and moved in your life? What are the stories you have to tell about your own walk of faith?